Scuttled ‘voice of Peace’ Ship Said to Imperil Fishing Waters

Fishermen at the port of Ashdod have complained that peace activist Abie Nathan sank his Voice of Peace floating radio station in an area that imperils fishing waters.

Israel’s Environment Ministry said it would investigate to determine whether the ship, which Nathan sank Nov. 28, had been sunk at an authorized location.

When Nathan first announced that he would stop broadcasting because he could no longer afford to maintain the vessel at sea, he said he had obtained permission from the authorities to sink it off the Tel Aviv shore.

The approved site was opposite the site from which, for more than two decades, he had broadcast his mixture of peace slogans and music.

Nathan made a last-minute agreement with then Tel Aviv Mayor Shlomo Lahat not to sink the Voice of Peace, when Lahat said he had found a spot on the Tel Aviv shore where the ship could be beached and turned into a museum.

Nathan accordingly sailed the ship to Ashdod until suitable arrangements could be made but ultimately decided to lay the ship to rest “gracefully.”

He reportedly also received no answers to official queries about where to sink the vessel. It is not known if permission to sink the ship included Ashdod or was confined to a certain spot off Tel Aviv.